Artist Statment
Transform that dull, boring wall into a colorful and educational work of art! Mosaics are a metaphor; they function as a testament to the importance of teamwork, good decision making and positive self expression. Every piece has its place and, like every participant involved, every piece has its importance. Combining mathematics, science and history, mosaic murals draw on two thousand years of culture and tradition to tell the stories of its creators. The process of brain storming, researching, synthesizing and communicating knowledge through visual imagery is a powerful way to teach and reinforce any subject. Mosaics are inclusive, allowing all ages and abilities to contribute, empowering all participants to transform their ideas, vision and hard work into a lasting reminder of the learning process and a teaching tool for years to come.

Artist Statement:
As a straw artist, I am part of a continuance of an ancient folk art celebrating the harvest. Wheat weaving, as it is called in America, is the art of plaiting straw into designs. A residency combines teaching wheat weaving experience for students and teachers while sharing the history of straw and society. Age old skills would be conveyed to a new generation who would gain an appreciation for the natural beauty of wheat and its importance to our every day life. I am a juried member of the Pennsylvania Guild of Craftsmen and a member of the National Association of Wheat Weavers.

Artist Statement:
I believe you can't teach writing until you teach seeing. I like to remind participants that it's information through our senses that creates how we're feeling whether it's something that has immediately happened to us, something we heard about around us, or far away, or maybe just what the suns doing. Seeing from The Dark Behind My Eyes, Looking at the Lines in My Hand I See..., Listening to the Air Inside My Ears, These are the titles of stream of consciousness writing exercises I developed to allow out minds to open and visualize our lives. To see ourselves then write: poems, multi-voice poem fusion, mixed media poetry murals, bilingual/intergenerational poem opera, developing our voice to speak to ourselves clearer. Very Special Arts-LD and ESL "at-risk" students, detention centers, emergency and homeless shelters, prisons, hospitals, senior citizen centers.

Artist Statement:
Nationally acclaimed composer and educator Tina Davidson is passionate in supporting everyone to partake of the most creative part of music making-the writing of music. Young Composers, her multi-session residency, teaches students to make their own instruments, write their own music, rehearse and perform their works for the school community. The host teachers gain hands-on experience with a model curriculum that can then be shared with their colleagues and the larger student population. "Young Composers is intriguing and productive. Watching the program has informed me and changed my own teaching practices. I would recommend Young Composers as an excellent and unique opportunity for children to experience first-hand musical composition and as a marvelous foray into the world of creativity and disciplined self-expression.

Artist Statement:
My workshops allow students to experience the physically expressive and imaginative world of the actor and theatre; improvisation, characterization, acting, pantomime, mime techniques and communication skills. Intrinsically, theatre as the vehicle develops divergent, flexible, original and elaborate thinking; fluency, concentration, risk-taking, problem solving and builds self-esteem. In a residency, students experience how the theatre artist works, views the world and learns to create theatre as apart of an ensemble. Determined by student population and length of the residency, students create theatre through improvisation, story drama, literature or writing.

Artist Statement:
As a painter I am constantly selecting ideas, translating them into my own language and exploring them through line, shape, and color. As a teaching artist I am excited to introduce this fascination to others. When I work with groups, my primary goal is to hold a safe place for exploration and risk taking. Satisfaction comes from enabling others to discover their own artistic style and process. When a group completes the creation of a large mural, tapestry, or installation, the experience goes beyond the beautiful product and the learning of artistic technique; the artwork becomes the vehicle through which we explore our individual strengths and it invites us to participate in the adventure of working together on a common goal. Convinced of the importance of teaching through the arts, I find residency curriculum connections an exciting adventure.

As a poet and visual artist, I seek to establish connections. My work tends to lean toward the interplay of visual and text and into the realm of visual poetry. I observe and record in order to comment on the nature of the individual, on society, history, and philosophical issues. When I write poetry I engage my inner life, and the issues that bloom from emotions and desires, what drives connections and separations, and what appeals to me. Writing, wordplay and working with text and visual art together requires sustained contemplation, which is a skill I share in my teaching. I find beauty in the ordinary. Words are ordinary, everyday objects that we can shape into the extraordinary.

Artist Statement:
I am a believer in the transformative power of theatre and love to watch my students make discoveries, open up to never-thought-of possibilities and stretch their imaginations and creative powers. All this leads to the making of a more well-rounded, intelligent and empathetic person. I find that my work with Shakespeare is the perfect tool for making these personal discoveries. By teaching students how to unlock his mysteries and how to play with Shakespeare, they become empowered by his poetic language and vibrant characters. He encourages us to appreciate the largeness of Life – as do I!

Artist Statement:
During residencies, students enjoy a complete immersion into folk music including instrument building, folk dancing, song writing and performance on the newly made instruments. The school selects which instruments the students will make: hammer dulcimer, bowed psaltery or mountain dulcimer. The school keeps the student made instruments for future music education and as a legacy. All instrument makers clearly sign the instruments as an historic record. As a performer for over 35 years, I present an opening concert, performing on the hammer dulcimer, mountain dulcimer, button accordion, bowed psalter and banjo. I've recorded six albums. As an instrument maker for over 25 years, I give generous compliments to the students for their work. A final hoedown concert is held in which the students dance, sing and perform on their new student made instruments. They always feel very satisfied with their accomplishments.

Artist Statement:
Creativity is the essence of art. An open mind's boundless imagination provides unlimited possibilities for creation: a concept given form by the creative process and the technical skills of an artist. The process is flexible and begins with an idea that is developed through brainstorming, thumbnail sketches, and finally a detailed drawing; this drawing is used as a blueprint for construction. When fabrication begins, one must tolerate deviation from the original plan because of the serendipitous nature of the creative process. The building process itself can generate new ideas and interesting developments that potentially can change the final result. Through the residency program, participants will expand and challenge their minds and develop an understanding and appreciation of this creative process.

Artist Statement:
Theater is the magician's art. It is the act of crating something out of nothing. With a phrase, a series of gestures, or a pointed glance, an entire new world can be created. This is the power of imagination. Theater affirms the possibility of being able to make the imaginary real. It empowers, emboldens, gives rise to the notion that perhaps your own world is one completely of your own creation. So the most important concept I endeavor to impart is: imagine well, and make your life look like your imagination.

Age Range for Residencies: Have worked with a variety of student populations from Early Childhood, Elementary, Middle, Secondary, Adult, Senior - including those in Hospice Care.

Artist Statement:
TWhen I explore book arts and poetry with students, we are talking about creative connections, coexisting words and images, as a force for intellectual development as a way to exercise the brain. Brains, like bodies, need exercise to keep fit, and stimulate thinking. Students are shown how to become more successful learners using their individual creativity. As an artist, I provide inspiration and techniques for bindings, using simple supplies found in every classroom, paper, pens and scissors. The book becomes a container that holds words and images, a portable art exhibit, about relationships, between the pages, between thoughts and dreams, a three dimensional object filled with light, space and movement. We explore strategies for writing poetry. As each student invents their own answer, their perception becomes fine tuned, an important part of self-expression. Book arts has one definite advantage, learning is fun.

Artist Statement:
I believe creativity is philosophy and a way of life that can be learned and practiced. We are all creative in our own way! I also believe that art is play! In residencies I begin by setting up the playing field. This means teaching about the basic structure and form of stories. Next we establish the rules of play. Some of these rules pertain to respect for each individual's ideas, others follow from specific goals of the residency. From there the possibilities are endless! I like projects in which storytelling is used to support or enhance other work being done by the host organization, such as: bridging generational gaps, instilling respect for the environment, bring history to life, using stories for therapy or self discovery, or (fill in your idea).

The Imani Edu-Tainers African Dance Company (Imani) promotes increased awareness, appreciation and celebration of West African traditions, through traditional West African dance, drumming and other cultural enrichment activities to children, adolescents and adults through its school & community-based arts education programs. Imani was established in 1992 to provide training and education and cultural enrichment of West African culture.

We work in partnership with schools and community based organizations to provide experiential training in West African culture, through the lens of traditional art forms to include drumming, dance, and song. Specifically, program participants will learn and demonstrate techniques of African drumming and dance.